A careful and intelligent, if not a brilliant soldier, he
is, perhaps, the most eminent figure which the years since the great
rebellion have developed.
* * * * *
Looking back over the military history of the country since its
beginning, it is evident that America has produced no soldier of
commanding genius--no soldier, for instance, to rank with Napoleon, who,
at his prime, seemed able to compel victory; or with Frederick the
Great, that past master of the art of war. Yet it should be remembered
that both these men were soldiers all their lives, and that they stand
practically unmatched in modern history. Of the next rank--the rank of
Wellington and Von Moltke--we have, at least, three, Washington, Lee,
and Grant; while to match such impetuous and fiery leaders as Ney, and
Lannes, and Soult, we have Harry Lee, Marion, Sheridan, Jackson, and
Albert Sidney Johnston. So America has no reason to blush for her
military achievements--more especially since her history has been one of
peace, save for fifteen years out of the one hundred and thirty-three of
her existence.
SUMMARY
PUTNAM ISRAEL. Born at Salem, Massachusetts, January 7, 1718; served in
French and Indian war, 1755-62; in Pontiac's war, 1764; one of the
commanding officers at battle of Bunker Hill, June 17, 1775;
major-general in Continental army, 1775; took part in siege of Boston,
1775-76; commanded at defeat on Long Island, August 27, 1776; commanded
in high-lands of the Hudson, 1777; served in Connecticut, 1778-79;
disabled by a stroke of paralysis, 1779; died at Brooklyn, Connecticut,
May 19, 1790.
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